Stop the Scoops

LA Creamery, the artisan ice cream shop offering bold flavors such as Goat Cheese and Currant, Chai Tea Latte and Olive Oil, has shuttered all three locations, which opened in rapid-fire succession at Westfield Topanga Shopping Center in Canoga Park, The American at Brand in Glendale and Westfield Fashion Square in Sherman Oaks.

Owner Brad Saltzman told a reporter from Eater LA that the lack of business at Topanga—a super luxe, but notoriously challenging mall for businesses—brought the entire company down. Some speculators say that the company expanded too quickly and that the owners were so smitten with their concept that their visions of success blinded them to the realities of retail in the current economy. One particularly intriguing note in the comment section of the Eater LA article pointed to the fact that this is not Saltzman’s first over-ambitious and disastrous business venture. It included a link to this Forbes article.

Whatever their faults, being an entrepreneur myself, I can sympathize with LA Creamery’s owners and how devastating it must be to see a dream to fruition—which often feels like the biggest hurdle—and then have it come crumbling down as a result of a heap of business management failures. It takes a lot of chutzpah to dream big and for that, I raise a spoon to LA Creamery.

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